Project HTPC ::: sleeper (56k warning)

[codeflux]

worklog can be seen in this thread

full worklog with large pictures http://codeflux.com/mods/sleeper/

/edit deleted images - see above url

 

[xonik]

Nice finished product, but I feel it's still too flashy to qualify as a "sleeper."

 

[flat4]

Nice i really like how it came out.

 

[codeflux]

Nice finished product, but I feel it's still too flashy to qualify as a "sleeper."

the lighting is very over-exaggerated in the pictures - since the fans are running at 7V, it's really suddle. and when the HTPC is off, you cannot tell what it is!

there were a number of times when people saw a Windowz screen on my TV and started looking for a computer, failing to find one (the HTPC is *really* quiet - you can only hear it when you practically put your face right up to it).

that's the point of the Sleeper. think cars - a, say, C32 AMG doesn't look all that (if you don't look at the badges), but when you PUNCH IT - it flies.

 

[nighthawk]

Quite awesome, Low profile mods can be very difficult to do

 

[Tricky]

Very clean install considering the lack of room you had. Awesome job!

 

[codeflux]

Very clean install considering the lack of room you had. Awesome job!

thanks... haven't checked this thread in forever... too bad i don't even own a TV now, so i can't really use this thing... anyone wants to buy it?

 

[roachm]

Specs and how much?

 

[V0ltage]

damn that is a crazy nice mod, awesome job!

 

[theshadow27]

wow thats a great job. its awsome that everything fit together... and you didnt mesure or anything. and 99% of the thing looks stock (minus the fan on the back). the grill on top looks like it could come out of a pwonage factory (but not pioneer). gj keep it up

 

[oOo sam lee oOo]

thats cool

 

[iownyou14]

Awesome.

 

[codeflux]

Specs and how much?

Motherboard Asus A7N266-VM nForce
CPU AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 2GHz
HSF Thermaltake w/Speeze low-speed fan
RAM 2x Crucial PC2100 256MB
Hard Drive 40GB Maxtor ATA133 IDE
DVD-ROM Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM 48x CD-ROM
Video ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB low-profile
TV ATI E-HOME Wonder low-profile & SageTV
PSU Allied 200W ATX low-profile
Display Matrix Orbital 20x2 VK202-25 w/LCDC
Remote Creative PC-DVD w/uICE

How much? well, how about you make me an offer and i will consider it?

 

[codeflux]

MOVED FROM HTPC GALLERY - this is a better place for it.

Sorry it took me this long to get back to you on these. All good questions. One thing - when you're replying to someone's post, don't include the photos on their post - every time you look at this thread, my server gets hit twice, and high bandwidth ain't cheap nowadays. Anyway, here we go:

1) how did you wire the power and reset buttons together so you have to press both (idiot proofing)

basically i wanted to make sure no one just pokes at one of the buttons on the thing and reboots it. so i made it so you have to hold down 2 buttons at the same time to reset the HTPC. just wired the two switches in sequence - if either one of these is closed, nothing happens; reset happens only when both switches are closed.

2) how did you cut/bend/drill/screw/fabricate your own brackets? I have no experience with working with metal, and would like some pointers.

dremel and drill is your friend. i used 1mm black anodized aluminium left over from a side panel to my Lian-Li. you can use any sheet metal, although AL is easiest to work with. i made cardboard templates and made sure it all fit, then just cut out pieces of AL to size and drilled them. the brackets were bent in one place - i just used two pairs of pliers to hold one end and fold the other. go slow and don't over-bend - AL will break if you do.

3) there's a section where you reused a piece of the old PCB that had the power buttons, and wired it as a keyboard to the VFD. What exactly does that mean, what's it do?

i'm using Matrix Orbital 20x2 VFD and LCDC (www.lcdc.cc) to drive it. that VFD has 5 headers on it that you can connect switches to and let your software handle it. basically i just connected the original switches that were on the face of the device to the VFD's headers, and use LCDC to open/close DVD drive tray, volume up/down/mute, switch screen on the VFD, etc. you can program it to do anything, pretty much, on any key press.

4) How did you change the LED in the cdrom drive?

took the drive apart, snapped old LED off, soldered new LED on. you can find how-to's if you google, or even search within these blessed forums.

could you suggest a place where I could buy LED's?

i bought my extensive collection of LEDs from all over the place. v3leds.com (now defunct), www.mcmaster.com, www.eled.com, www.hosfelt.com, www.superbrightleds.com, and many others. take a look at For Sale/Trade forums here as well, there are people selling LEDs in bulk. of course, there is always www.ebay.com - you can find all kinds of LEDs individually or in bulk.

did you get the LED's that are "plug and play" or did you have to add resistors and all that? do you have a tutorial site on doing that?

if you're replacing the LED in a CD drive, you don't have to use a resistor - it already has the right voltage (ok, most likely) for it. but if you just want to drive some LEDs off of a standard 5V or 12V lead, you have to use resistors. you can use bit-tech.net's led calculator or the same by linear1; again, you can find LEDs or resistors at radioshack or some other electronics places.

5) do you have a tutorial on how to rewire a usb cable to mate with an onboard header?

nope, no tutorial. find a USB pin-out (google is your friend), and then look at the USB pin-out of your motherboard USB header. match them up and do a little soldering.

6) did you repaint the final product (the entire case)? what kind of paint did you use?

no, no painting. i did paint the face of the DVD drive and the buttons. i used black vynil (or is it vinyl?) dye - you can find it in your local automitive store, like AutoZone. painting the entire case is a whole matter altogether, and there are lots of tutorials done on that. i painted a case once (http://codeflux.com/mods/athena/), and was a MAJOR paint (i mean, pain) in the ass.

good luck and have fun!